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Chapter One
Timber Cove, Sonoma County, California
Cujo
ConsideringhowmuchIhated fucking cages or cells of any kind, I probably should have chosen a different profession. But there weren’t a lot of employment options for a mostly feral wolf shifter like me. Over the years, I’d built up a good reputation for being able to doanythinga client needed. Some called me a mercenary, some a gun for hire. Basically, I was whatever the customer needed. I didn’t mind getting my hands dirty and wasn’t constrained by any sort of fucking moral code. My only rule: no kids.
From where I sat in the back of local Sheriff Jaxson’s SUV, I looked through the plexiglass partition and windshield to the landscape passing us by while I tried to stay calm. Tried to keep my wolf from going batshit crazy at being locked in here. While the interior of the vehicle wasn’t overly cramped, both my wolf and I knew we were heading to lock-up, where we’d end up in a damn cell. The steel cuffs that dug into my wrists reminded me of my past. Of other times when I’d been restrained, something that had my wolf clawing at my insides to get out and save us.
When I licked my lips, I tasted the salt from my sweat. I wasn’t going to last much longer before my wolf ripped free and all hell would break loose. While these steel cuffs would probably hold a normal shifter, if my animal went into a rage, they wouldn’t slow me down much. The joys of having been experimented on for most of my childhood meant there wasn’t much about me that could be classified as normal.
Jaxson frowned into the mirror at me. “Are you able to hold off your shift? If not, I can give you something that’ll help.”
My acute shifter hearing picked up his voice through the plexiglass without any issue and my entire body jolted at the mention of drugs. That was an even bigger fucking trigger for me than cages were.
“No fucking drugs. I’ll hold my beast. He doesn’t like being caged.”
Jaxson continued to watch me in the mirror. “Lock-up’s going to be fun for you, then.”
I jerked my head in a nod. “Won’t end well. There any way we can avoid me being put in a cell?”
The growl I got in response let me know Jaxson was still pissed off over what had happened and wasn’t going to do me any favors.
“You kidnapped a female shifter for the purpose of putting her up for a Trial. You’re going to do time, asshole.”
Considering Alina was sitting right fucking next to him, safe and sound, I wasn’t sure why he was so angry. Hell, I’d given him an excuse to play the white knight who had to come riding to her rescue. I’d fucking helped him from my perspective, but I wasn’t stupid enough to say that out loud to the man. I stilled as I did think of something I could say to maybe help him decide to cut me some slack. “A Trial you were there to partake in, weren’t you, Deputy?”
Putting an unmated, fertile female wolf shifter through a Trial to be mated off to the winning male shifter was an ancient tradition. One that had been deemed illegal some time ago.
Alina jerked in her seat as though she’d been struck before she glared at Jaxson.
“You were going to— Why would you do that?”
Jaxson’s focus shifted back to the road, his body going rigid. “I can explain, Alina, but not now. Not here.”
Alina had told me how she didn’t like games, and it looked like the not-so-good-deputy was playing a big one with the little wolf. I held in a smirk as I remembered how feisty Alina could get. Jaxson had a hell of a lot of explaining to do to his mate. Hopefully he wanted to do that more than he wanted to process all the paperwork required to lock me away.
“I don’t have the name of the fucker who hired me, but what if I gave you his phone number and bank account details? Would that buy me some damn leniency? I mean, I personally didn’t put her on fucking Trial. My job was to snatch her and transport her to a location. How the fuck was I to know it was for an old-school Trial?”
Alina spun to glare at me. “You liar. You knew. You came to me to tell me that I had to go in the stupid Trial to earn my freedom!”
I raised an eyebrow. “Who’s to say I knew any fucking thing about that before I delivered you to the cabin?”
Jaxson’s growl cut off any response Alina might have given me.
“Enough!” Jaxson barked. “If you give me everything you have on who hired you, andifit checks out, I’ll look at downgrading the charges to something that won’t have you doing time.” He paused until I looked into the mirror, locking my gaze with his. “But I’ll only do that if I can release you into the custody of your Alpha. I want you far away from my territory as soon as possible, and I want your Alpha’s guarantee that you’ll stay away.”
Aw, fuck. Was he trying to trick me? Force me to accept jail time? Surely, he could guess a wolf like me didn’t have a damn pack. I hadn’t since I was stolen as a cub. Not even sure I’d know how to be part of a fucking pack, but this was going to be my only chance to not have to spend the next few years in a fucking cage. If I lasted that long. If my wolf got loose and went crazy, they’d most likely have to put me down. It’d be the only way to stop the rampage he’d go on.
Looking down at my worn boots, I wracked my brain for who I could call on. I’d done jobs for several wolf shifter packs over the years, but most of the Alphas weren’t the type to tolerate a rogue feral like me. Then I remembered a shifter I’d come across in the south of Texas a while back. He’d hired me to do some investigative work to search for a missing female shifter. Joaquin was the Alpha and president of the Iron Hammers MC. His crew was a mixed bag of all sorts of shifters. He might take me on for however long Jaxson was going to stipulate. It’d probably cost me more than just money, but if it kept me out of a cell, it’d be worth it.
“Time’s ticking.”
Jaxson growled the words like he was looking forward to me not being able to come up with a name. Fuck him. “Joaquin Torres. He’s Alpha and president of the Iron Hammers MC over in Galveston, Texas. Let me give him a call. I promise to leave with him and never return.”
He narrowed his gaze at me in the mirror again, and I started to panic he was going to change his mind and back out of the deal. But before he could say anything, Alina reached over and wrapped her palm around his forearm, gaining his full attention.
“Please, Jaxson,” Alina begged. “The last thing my babies or I need is for it to get out that I was kidnapped and put up for Trial. That kind of thing would forever tarnish my reputation and could cause issues for the twins when they’re older. They already have a nightmare hanging over their head due to their father. I can’t take dealing with another mess. Please, just take me to wherever my babies are, then you can take him in, get whatever information he has and let him go before coming back to join me.”
